Bethany School bans blame thanks to Synergia

Bethany School headmaster, Francie Healy recently completed the Level 7 Coaching and Mentoring course with Synergia. It’s opened his eyes to new methods of communication with staff and pupils and has transformed him into a true mentor.

Regarding the course, Francie said: “It was a very good course. The concept of coaching appealed to me from the very beginning. I met Clare (training provider) and she spoke in a very pragmatic manner and I could see the benefit for both my school, staff and pupils.

“I took this particular course because I wanted to have challenging conversations with colleagues and pupils in a positive environment with an absence of blame.

“Coaching and mentoring is an inherently good thing to do. My conversations are less judgmental and more conciliatory now. Naturally when you question people they get defensive but I wanted to have challenging conversations that didn’t result in a blame culture. The purpose of those types of conversations isn’t to identify peoples’ weaknesses, it’s to put them right and move them forward in a positive direction.

“Since completing the course myself, I have had coaching sessions with colleagues and pupils and the feedback I’ve been getting is that I’m giving them space to think for themselves and they’re finding that very valuable.

“The one thing this course has really made me appreciate is silence. Many people feel they need to fill the silence but actually it’s a great tool and it’s given me a great appreciation of its value.”

“I’d absolutely recommend to anyone that they take on this course with Clare. She is so matter-of-fact and practical. She keeps everything real by using relevant and real life examples. We’ll definitely be enrolling more staff members on a course with Synergia.”

Nine other staff members took on a level 5 Coaching and Mentoring Course with Synergia, to see how they got on read Assistant Headteacher, Emily Hill’s case study here.